The Flame In The Stone
by Theother1.gater
Summary: Elsa has night terrors, but an ancient prophecy might make them more than they seem.
1. chapter 1

Elsa was running across the barren wasteland. Her feet and path were hidden by black mists that swirled and billowed as she ran through them. Her skin tight ice dress was shredded and barely clung to her as she frantically ran away. The gashes across her back and shoulders oozed a steady stream of blood and puss down her exposed back.

She could hear the beasts gaining on her with every stride she took. She dared not look back as the snarls emanating from the blood thirsty maws drew closer. She could practically hear their claws click together in merciless glee. Leathery wings flapped with frantic insistence just behind her promising unbearable pain.

But throughout it all the one constant thing that never left her was the voice. The one that goaded and taunted her throughout her miserable existence in this God forsaken wasteland. The one that promised her relief if she just gave up and stopped. Stop and give into _his_ demands.

"WHAT DEMANDS!" Elsa wordlessly shouted, her voice refusing to leave her dry and cracked lips

The voice just cackled and replied " _You will know soon enough."_

Elsa was woken by knocking on her bedroom door. She quickly checked her surroundings to verify they were free from ice caused by her night terrors. No one really knew the extent that her dreams plagued her, not even her precious Anna. And Elsa would be damned before she gave her people reason to fear her. She has worked to hard and to long repairing her image and creating the trusting relationship she has with her people to let a few dreams throw that away.

However Elsa was pleasantly surprised that she managed to not freeze her entire room. Not even her sheets! In fact it was slightly warm in the room. Pushing those thoughts away she called out and a young servant girl opened the door. "Permission to help Her Majesty prepare for the day?"

"Yes please come in."

The next several hours of her day went like clockwork. Never stopping, always talking to someone about something important. All day was nothing but queenly duties with little time for Elsa. No thoughts of the night terrors entered her consciousness that day, but they did not forget her.


	2. 2

**Ok chapter 2 here we go.**

 **I've been sitting on this little egg for several years now and I have a basic idea of how I want this to go. Advice is appreciated and I will give all ideas their due process. Most ideas that I will probably give more consideration to is fluff. Something to help me fill the gaps and make this skeleton idea of a plot into a living breathing story of its own. There is no set update pattern. I do it when I can or when I have inspiration to further the story. I.E. it took me a month to do the previous chapter.**

Princess Anna was so excited she could hardly contain herself. Today was the day Kristoff was to return from ice harvesting. She has looked forward to this day for months and now that day was finally here. In a few short hours Kristoff will emerge from the forest with a week and a halfs supply of ice for the castle.

Along with him will be a small army of ice harvesters, each with varying supplies of ice, each for their perspective customers. Today was a joyous occasion for all of Arendelle. Taverns and inns got their supplies for ice and wives had their husbands returned to them. Sons got their fathers and fathers got their sons.

For five months of the year they would be gone harvesting ice and stockpiling it close the the border of Arendelle. Then when the spring and summer months came the harvesters would periodically go to the stockpile and replenish their customers supply of ice. And in charge of it all was Kristoff.

But unfortunately it meant less time for Anna. It was an unexpected and unfortunate side affect to Kristoffs' promotion. But now he was going to be home again, and Anna couldn't be happier. Soon she would be reunited with her one true love.

She sat by her window overlooking the city, but the beauties of her glorious country were not the focus of her attentions. No, she was watching the outskirts of the city where the forest opened up and a trail led out. She watched and waited for the blonde man who had stolen her heart so many years ago to return home to her once again.

However, there was a voice in the back of her head that reminded her that his return was not guaranteed. Her loves occupation was quite arguably the most dangerous job in all of Arendelle. It was not uncommon for harvesters to come home a piece or two less than when he left. The most common were toes and fingers, but missing all of those and some extra was quite frequent as well.

As much as the thought of that happening to her Kristoff irked her, they did not cause as many sleepless nights as they used to. She had made her peace with the risks long ago. It also helped to know that with his position he was exposed to far fewer of them than the other harvesters under his command.

They have been together for over six years, and in that time she has learned to trust in his abilities and skills. She trusted that he was smart enough to not make obvious mistakes, and where he failed in that she knew Sven would see his masters blunder and stop him before it was to late. It wasn't the most romantic way of reassuring herself but it worked for them.

A knock at her chamber doors drew her out of her musings. With her permission the door opened to reveal the platinum blonde monarch, dressed to elegant perfection. The princess smiled and stood to greet her beloved sister. However Anna noticed her sisters entourage of council members and without missing a beat did the proper cordial greetings.

The queens eyes glistened with pride as she returned the gesture. When the formalities were through, Elsa turned to The council members. "If you would excuses for a moment I would like to have a word with my sister." They nodded and left, shuffling their feet are like a flock of fat penguins. The guards stationed outside Anna's room closed the door to give the royals privacy

"You're lucky I saw them when I did." Anna said walking towards her sister. "I nearly made a fool out of ourselves in front of some of the most powerful members of parliament and our society. Not that it would have changed any opinions or anything."

"Either way I'm really proud of how you handled yourself. I wish I could've warned you before I came here but I could not seem to find a way to get word to you..."

Anna stopped Elsa with a hand to her shoulder. "it's fine Elsa, no harm no foul. Besides, what was it you wanted to talk to me about anyway?"

Elsa smiled at her sister before saying, "How long have you been looking out your window?" Anna remained silent and Elsa sighed. "Anna you can't just stay here and worry all day, it's not healthy for you."

" I'm not worried." She lamely muttered.

Elsa drew her into a hug and said, "I know, I know, but it's still not okay. You have to get out, go sit in the sun and feed the ducks, go to the kitchen and borrow some chocolate and don't act like you don't. Get out and do something other than sitting in the dark watching a road."

Anna drew back from the hug and nodded. "Ok I will, I just want him to be home."

"And he will. Now go! Before I make you!" Elsa, said shooing her little sister to the door.

"Can you come with me?" Elsa paused. It was a simple question with a simple answer, but with not so simple emotions.

With a sigh she replied, "Sorry Anna but I still have things to finish up with the council. I would love nothing more than to be able to spend the day with you but my day is full."

Anna nodded and said, "I understand. Actually I've been meaning to go do a few things. I guess now would be the time to go through them."

"Are you sure you'll be ok? Don't make me bring Olaf into this!" Elsa said, to which Anna giggled.

"No, I'll be fine. But now you need to be going if you are to keep to your schedule. Things to do and people to see." Anna said with a smile.

"Ugh don't remind me. Alright I'll leave you to it. Do you want somebody to tell you when he arrives?"

"Yes could you do that for me?"

"Anything for you Anna." Elsa said as she walked out of the room.

Anna stood there smiling at the door, filled with thoughts of how much she loved her sister. She turned and looked out the window for the last time that day, then left to do what her sister asked of her. All under the watchful eye of the man in black.

 **So** **what is the general feel of the story? Good bad, and God forbid, ugly?**

 **Leave a review and let me know. Kind of a filler chap but I felt it important and it does move the plot along, albeit slow.**

 **BTW I need someone willing to proofread for later chapters if anyone is willing to tear their hair out and whatnot.**


	3. Three

The sun had yet to come over the horizon when Sven pulled the sled out of the wood line. It had been a long, hard journey from the rock trolls home. Now that spring has taken, the snow that the sled was made to glide over had turned the forest floor to mud. Sven sighed in relief as the sled skates met the dew covered grass. The meadows surrounding the city state of Arendelle were much easier to traverse than the uneven, rocky paths of the forest.

From behind the sled Kristoff could hear his childhood friend and understood his frustration. Throughout the trip he was the one tasked with freeing the sled whenever it got stuck, delaying them for hours on end. Kristoff walked around the sled and gave his friend a reassuring pat on the neck.

"Almost there bud, just a few more kilometers and we'll be home. There is a whole bundle of carrots waiting just for you when we get there." Sven snorted and nodded his head. Kristoff smiled and said, "To tired to talk? I understand. Let's go home bud." From there they began the final step of their journey to Arendelle.

They were already over a week past the point Kristoff and Sven would normally return from the harvest months. And Kristoff new there would be Hell to pay from a certain strawberry blonde princess for being away for so long. But he also knew once she calmed down and allowed him to explain himself that she would forgive him. Besides, a summons from Grand Pabbie is not something to be taken lightly. And neither is being tasked to deliver a summons from him as well. And he was due for a visit to the Valley of the Living Rock anyway. As much as Kristoff likes being apart of society, sometimes he needs to go and stay with his family for a while.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when Sven slowed to a stop in front of their house on the edge of the city. Kristoff walked over to the barn attached to the side of the small one story house. Pulling out a set of four keys, he unlocked the set of double doors and swung them open, allowing Sven to pull the sled into its final resting place on the right side.

Kristoff came to his friends side and started unbuckling the harness. Once it was off and hung from a hook on the wall he led him over to a pile of hay on the left side. "Alright bud, you lay down and I'll get you those carrots I promised you." Sven groaned a little before laying down on his straw bed.

Kristoff turned and went through a door situated next to Sven's bed into the kitchen area of the house. Turning to his right he set the keys down on the counter, walked past the wood stove and wash tub and went into the pantry. From the top shelf he grabbed a sack of carrots and walked back to the barn, closing the doors as he went.

"Alright bud, here you...", Kristoff was stopped by a loud snore erupting from the sleeping reindeer. He smiled and laid the carrots at his friends side and went back into the house. Taking off his coat he laid it on the back of a chair at his dinning table. From there he went around the table to the fireplace. He lit a few small logs, basking the house in a healthy glow.

After warming his hands a bit, Kristoff turned around and inspected his surroundings. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. None of the windows had any new cracks in them which Kristoff was thankful for. He almost always had to replace at least one due to the more extreme temperatures of Arendelle's winters. That and burglars trying to make an easy score on empty houses.

Satisfied with the current state of his home, Kristoff walked to his bedroom door at the back of the house. He pauses before opening the door however, realizing he had left his keys on the counter. Turning around he walks back to the counter and retrieves them. As he pockets them he notices something at the front door. It's a letter, sticking out as if someone tried to slip it underneath but couldn't quite get it all the way in.

Curiosity peaked, Kristoff made his way to the front door. He gave the letter a friendly tug but it would not come out. He then unlocked the door and opened it, freeing the letter from the door jamb. Kristoff bends over and picks the letter up, smoothing out the wrinkles as he does so. His name was written in elegant cursive at the center of the envelope and was sealed with plain, unmarked wax.

Kristoff's face split into a huge grin and he hurriedly shut and locked the door. He brought the letter to his face and breathed in deeply. That smell. OH that smell. The scent of flowers, grass and just a hint of perfume. He slowly let out a deep exhale as his body visibly relaxed. He knew that smell very well. It had been missing from his life for a little more than four months.

He stood there for only a moment more before he popped the seal open, his hands trembling in excitement. With the utmost care he took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it. The room went dark. "Shit!" Kristoff cursed as he stumbled across the dark room to the smoldering fireplace, throwing the letter onto what he hoped was the dining table.

Kristoff struggled to relight the fire and get it going again, throwing more logs and kindling into the glowing embers. The battle seemed to go on forever but soon the scarlet flames took hold of the drywood surface. He added a few more logs before he dared turned away from it.

Sitting on the table sat the discarded letter and the feeling of joy slowly came back to Kristoff. He sat in one of the wooden chairs and pulled the letter to him. Just touching the crinkled paper seemed to soothe all of the aches and pains from his long winter harvest and gave him a revitalizing burst of energy he didn't think he still had. Slowly he peeled open the letter, eying the hearth as he did so. Inside the letter the same swooping cursive spread across the page.

"You are extremely late mister! While I'm sure you had good reason you still should have found a way to let me know. I'm losing my mind with worry. Please come home soon. I miss you terribly. You owe me an apology. A big apology. And a picnic. With chocolate. I miss you so much. Love Anna."

"A picnic huh?" Kristoff said to himself. "That could work. Yes! That would be perfect!" He got up from the table with his keys leaving the letter and went to his room. Inside against the wall in the farthest corner of the room was a small locked chest that he now walked to. He took one of the keys to unlock it and reached into the chest, shifting the numerous objects in it till he pulled out a small velvet box about the size of his palm. He carefully opened the small box to make sure the contents were safe before closing it.

Yes a picnic would do perfectly. Only one thing left to do. His eyes turned to a window by his bed where the castle could be seen in the distance. "Time to see the queen then."


End file.
